Randomization of EVM-VVPATs conducted at Bandipora

The first phase of randomisation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 was done on Thursday under the supervision of District Election Officer (DEO) Shahbaaz Ahmad Mirza in presence of senior officials and representatives of political parties.
The first phase of randomisation was done for allocation of Ballot Units, Control Units and VVPATs for three assembly segments of the district. 1094 EVMs were allocated to three segments of the district which includes 102 EVMs for Gurez, 502 for Bandipora and 490 for Sonawari Assembly segments.
Speaking on the occasion, the DEO Bandipora said that the aim of randomisation is to ensure free and fair elections with no human intervention as the randomisation is being done by dedicated software for the purpose. Before the randomisation, the DEO briefed the political representatives about the randomisation process and assured them that all necessary arrangements have been put in place to ensure free and fair polls.
He said after the randomisation the EVMs shall be shifted to dedicated strong rooms of the respective constituencies where they will be kept under tight security and protection and the further randomisation for allocation of EVMs to polling stations shall be done in upcoming randomisation phases.
Earlier, the first phase of randomisation of polling staff for Lok Sabha Elections was done on Monday for about 1600 employees including 148 employees for Gurez, 760 employees for Bandipora and 700 for Sonawari constituency.
Meanwhile, the DEO also held a consultative meeting with the representatives of various national and regional local parties with regard to clubbing and shifting of polling stations at different locations of the district.
Deputy District Election Officer Bandipora Bilal Mukhtar, Assistant Returning Officer Bandipora Jahangir Ahmad, Assistant Returning Officer Gurez Sidharath Zutshi, Assistant Returning Officer Sonawari Syed Shahnawaz Bukhari, Nodal Officer EVMs Mohammad Qasim Gani, Nodal Officers of various election related activities and other senior officials were present on the occasion.